Final of Eurovision 2011 set for 14 May, Lena returns!

About Lena

May 30th, 2010. It is 1 a.m., 20 minutes and 40 seconds when the fanfare of the ARD’s (the world’s largest public broadcaster) Tagesschau is heard and newsreader Jan Hofer greets the viewers: „Good morning, ladies and gentlemen! After 28 years Germany can finally celebrate another win at the Eurovision Song Contest. Lena Meyer-Landrut took the victory with her song Satellite. In Oslo, the 19-year-old clearly prevailed over all the other competitors from 24 countries. In 1982 Nicole was the last one to accomplish that with her song Ein Bisschen Frieden.

The Eurovision Song Contest team of the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) was kindly invited to Hamburg, Germany, to hold its first briefing meeting at next year's Host Broadcaster, NDR. With the broadcaster's headquarters located in Hamburg, it was an obvious location for the first briefing. A decision about the Host City of the 2011 contest has not been taken yet, and is only expected to be made at the end of this summer, but the dates for next year's contest are now set!

A key decision taken was to move the 56th Eurovision Song Contest to mid-May. The Semi-Finals are now set to take place on the 10th and 12th of May, the Final on Saturday the 14th of May, 2011. The decision was taken to avoid collision with major televised sports events taking place in late May.

During the traditional first briefing meeting of the new Host Broadcaster, the EBU team gives a first insight in the organisational details of the Eurovision Song Contest. With less than a year on the countdown clock, this gives the Host Broadcaster the opportunity to start the first preparations for next year's contest early.

NDR has already setup a team of experts to kick off the preparations for hosting the 56th running of Europe's favourite TV-show. For the months ahead, NDR is set to take decisions on the Host City and the venue where the 2011 Eurovision Song Contest shall take place. Since Germany has many large cities that meet the minimum requirements to host the Eurovision Song Contest, several cities have been asked to submit proposals in the weeks to come. The decision on the Host City is likely to be announced in September.

NDR also confirmed that 2010 Eurovision Song Contest winner Lena will once again represent Germany next year, to defend her title. Details about the song selection will be announced in due time.

Only Lys Assia, the winner of the first Eurovision Song Contest in 1956, and Corry Brokken came back the year after to defend their title. Other former winners, such as Johnny Logan, Carola, Charlotte Perelli and Niamh Kavanagh, waited for several years to return after a victory. Only Johnny Logan won the Eurovision Song Contest more than once; twice as an artist, once as song writer.